Railway-telegraph



(No Model.)

0. W. WILLIAMS. RAILWAY TELEGRAPH.

Q m a N. PETERS Pmwmho m mr. wasmn mn. D. c.

Nrran RAILWAY-TELEGRAPH.

SPECIFICATIQN forming part of Letters Patent No. 377,344, dated January31, 1888.

Application filed June 2, 1886. Renewed October 524, 1887. Serial No.253,233. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern.-

Be itknown that 1, CHARLES W. WiLLLiMs, of Cave City, Barren county,Kentucky, and a citizen of the United States of America, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Railway-Telegraphs, of which thefollowing is a specification, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings, forming part of the same, in which Figurel shows the trucksand platform of a car telegraphically equipped in connection with amain-line conductor and its usual appurtenances, a repeater (to bedescribed) in said main line, and a partial circuit, which passesthrough the repeater mentioned, has one end connected to the rails ofthe road upon which the car is standing, and for a portion of its lengthbefore passing through the repeater runs substantially parallel with andin proximity to the track. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the system, showinga series of three of such partial circuits and three repeaters. Fig. 3is a plan view of a modification of the system, and Fig. 4. is a detailView of the repeater.

My invention relates to railway-telegraphs of the class in whichelectric impulses produced on the car are transmitted through a circuitpartly off the car, and in which the part off the car is connected witha repeater, which is also connected with a main-line telegraph-circuitin such manner that the aforesaid impulses cause the repeater to createnew but similar impulses in the main-line circuit, and thereby operatethe instruments in said mainline circuit, the reverse action beingsubstantially the same, and impulses produced by instruments in themain-line circuit being caused, through the medium of the repeater, tocreate new but similar impulses in the circuit partly on the car, whichlatter impulses operate the instruments in the circuit on the car, andthe particular novelty to be claimed herein is the combination ofdevices whereby the use of a key-block to break and close the circuitpartly on the car and partly off the car, and thereby shunt the electriccurrent through the instruments on the car, is avoided.

A is the main-line conductor, whichis that of an ordinarytelegraph-line, supported on 13, and instruments O at thetelegraph-station D.

X are the rails of the railway, along in proximity to which and atsuitable distances apart are placed contact-plates c c c 0 &c. Theseplates are usually pieces of wire bent into a loop and secured to theends of the ties. One is clearly shown at Figs. 9 and 10 of the drawingsof Letters Patent No. 307,888, issued November 11,1884,and fullydescribed therein. The plates belonging to any one partial circuit areall connected by a wire, 00, running (in Fig. 1) from c to c, and thenceto and through the repeater R, and thence to rail X, being lettered x onthat part which runs from the repeater to the rail.

Each of the three partial circuits shown in Fig. 2 is substantially thusarranged.

Secured to the car, here to arms bolted to the front and rear trucks,but insulated therefrom, is a wire or rod, P. The one I prefer to use isalso shown and described in said Patent No. 307,888. This wire orcontact-piece P is so placed and the plates 0, &c., are so arranged thatP will at all times make contact with one or more of said plates, andnot only in each partial ground or repeater circuit of the car, but atthe points where the wires of each are turned from running parallel withthe track to pass to the repeaters, said plates are arranged at suchdistances apart with relation to the length of P that the latter willtoucha plate of the succeeding partial circuit before it breaks contactwith the last plate in the circuit from which it is passing.

Upon the ear is a key, K, battery B, and sounder S, and wires connectingthem, as shown. One wire, Z, runs from battery B to contact piece P, theother, Z, from the sounder S to the axle of awheel of the car, andhaving electrical connection with the rail through said wheel and axle,thus forming a partial circuit on the car leading from the wheel throughthe instruments and to contact-piece P, adapted to complete the partialcircuits oil the car leading from the rail through a repeater and thento plates 0, Ste.

Plates 0, &c., and wire as might of course be so placed that P and 0would make contact if P were placed upon the side, top, or under thecenter of the car; or a second system of plates and wires off the carmight easily be used instead of the axle-wheel and rail by having asecond piece, 1?, to make contact with them; or I might employ the tworails for my conductors and let both be brought into circuit through thewheels with the car-instruments; or brushes might be used; in fact anyknown means by which two electrical conductors might be brought andcontinued in contact with a conductor on a moving car would produce theresultat which I aim, and any two conductors which might so be broughtin contact would be the equivalent ,of my rail and wire.

In Fig.3,while the connection between the partial circuit on the car andthe rail is the same as that shown in Fig. 1, and the circuit from therail to the repeater is also similar to that shown in Figs. 1. and 2,there is no actual metallic connection between the other end, Q, of thepartial circuit on the car and the wire .70 of the partial circuit offthe car. Said end Q is merely what might be called the knob or handleofan electrical machine, preferably constructed in the form of a barextending parallel to the conductor of the partial repeater-circuit offthe car. Now, if a current of sufficient tension is employed and theother parts of the two'partial circuits (from the battery through Wire,rail, wire, repeater, and

conductor 00 opposite to Q, and also from the other pole of the batteryto Q) are complete and connected, an impulse from the battery on the carwill be transmitted to the repeater substantially as well as though Qwere a contact-piece like 1? and made actual contact with wire at, orplates like a placed thereon.

The exact action which does take place, or the correct theory of thematter, I do not pretend to be thoroughly conversant ,with; but thething has been done, and I therefore merely explain here theinstrumentalities necessary to accomplish it, leaving each electricianto explain it according to his own ideas. 7

With the devices arranged as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, it is'evident thatat all times a complete metallic circuit will exist from battery B,

through sounder S, wire Z, to axle 10, wheel W, rail X, wire 00,repeater R, wire 00, plates 0 d, &c., (or those of some partialcircuit,) contact-piece P,wire Z, to battery, and that a substantiallycomplete operating-circuit through the same instruments will at alltimes exist when devices such as are shown in Fig. 3 are employed. Thereis thus provided a circuit partly on and partly off the car, even whilethe car is running, through which an impulse from the battery may betransmitted to the repeater B. This repeater R consists of aneleotro-magtrain-circuit. h is hinged at p and provided with acontact-point, p, at or near its other extremity, which, when thearmature h is drawn toward H, makes contact with a contact-post, 19,connected with wire 6 (which is a continuation of w) by wire 7. Saidarmature has also aspring which draws it away from H, and thereby breaksthe contact at 1) whenever the circuit through H is broken, and itthereby loses its attractive power. h is hinged at p, and provided nearthe other extremity with a contact-point, p, which makes contact withcontact-piece p, which is in the main-line circuit, and also aspringwhich acts counter to the force of H. Another contactpost, 12 isprovided, connected to wire 9 (which wire 9 is a continuation of wireas) by wire 11; also a spring, 8 secured to a post, p, and at its freeend to piece 19 from which it is insulated. Spring 8 hasa wire, 10,running from it to wire 6. These springs, posts, &c., are so arrangedthat when the armature h is drawn toward H, carrying lever h and itspoint p away from 10 and thus breaking the main-line circuitand-interrupting the current through H, which will permit the spring ofh to draw, it back and break the train-circuit at p, the spring 8 willbefore the break at p is accomplished have made contact with 9 thusestablishing another complete circuit through H.

The devices on the car are so arranged that at the pleasure of theoperator either a strong or a weak current may be employed, and thisresult is here accomplished by having short wires running from therespective poles or polar connections of the battery to the respectivecontact-points of the key K, as shown, which will result inshort-circuiting the main part of the battery-current while the key isclosed. enough in the current passing through the sounder to operate it,a small battery may be placed in its circuit to assist in so doing.

The operation of this telegraph is as follows: The car is in one of theseries of repeater-circuits-say the first. Then there is a completecircuit from the car-battery and sounder, as before mentioned-that is,(key K being closed,) battery B, wire, sounder S, wire z, axle w,

wheel W, rail X, wire 00, through repeater R,

through its coil, and on by wire A. Now, if

the operator on the train wishes to signal an operator along the line,he opens key K. This sends the whole force of battery B through H, whichattracts h, draws it and h toward it,

breaking contact between p and p and thus causing a break in thecurrent, which gives a signal to the way-operator. Closing the keycloses the main circuit, and thus messages may be sent. If no provisionwere made, however, to avoid it, when the main circuit was broken thelever h being drawn back by its spring,

If at any time there is not force IOU IIO

would break the train-circuit at p, and at once H would lose itsattractive power; but, as has been said before, the main-line circuit isbroken at 10 spring 8 touches 19 thus furnishing a subsidiary circuitthrough H for the carbattery current by way of 6, 1O, 3 10 11, 8, H, 9,x, &c. If a way-station operator wishes to signal the train, he breakshis circuit, the current through H ceases, h is drawn back by itsspring, breaking the train-circuit, and the sounder announces the facton the car.

Thus it is seen that an impulsein the traincircuit (as I call that madeup of the two partial circuits, one on the car and the other off) or themain-line circuit is by the repeater duplicated in that circuit in whichit was not produced, and by having a series of repeaters the system canbe indefinitely extended without the danger of grounding the currents orhaving a slight break derange the whole system, and also that by thearrangement here submitted the train-circuit is always through the carwithout the necessity of having key-blocks to make a break in thecircuit off the car for the purpose of shunting the current through thecarinstruments, which I consider a considerable advantage.

lVhat I here claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a railway-telegraph system, the combination of a main-line-circuitconductor, a partial circuit carried on a railway-car,signaling-instruments in said partial circuit, an electrical conductoroff the car adapted, substantially as described, in connection with thepartial car-circuit, to transmit electrical impulses, and a repeater,substantially .as described, connected to both the mainline-circuitconductor and the electrical conductor, which completes the car-circuit,as and for the purpose specified.

2. In a railway-telegraph system, the combination of a main-line circuitconductor, a partial circuit carried on a car, signaling-instruments insaid partial circuit, contact devices upon said car, substantially asdescribed, a series of electrical conductors off the car adapted tocomplete the car-circuit, portions of which series of conductors runparallel with and in close proximity to the line of the railway andseparated from each other by intervals so short that the contact deviceson the car will make contact with a second of said series of circuitsbefore it breaks contact with the first of said series, and a series ofrepeaters, substantially as described, which are connected,respectively, to the main-line conductor and one of the circuits of saidseries, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

CHAS. \V. \VILLIAMS.

Witnesses:

A. G. N. VERMILYA, JOHN T. MoLAUcrrLIN.

